All posts by Indie Buddie

Alt Rock, indie rock, New Music, Rock and Roll

The Bridport Dagger ‘Wolves’

The Bridport Dagger have released their new single ‘Wolves’ which was recorded at Brixton Hill Studio. Band members Chaz Foster (Bass and Guitars), Lawrence Rice (Guitars), Neil Walsh  (Viola), Jason Idnani-Powdrill (Vocals, Guitars) and Arran Goodchild (Drumming, Keys, Percussion) have created a track so stirring and hair raising it will  leave you on the edge of your seat, constantly looking around for something to jump out of the shadows and get you. ​

‘Wolves’ enters with palpitating guitars quivering over rumbling drums as frontman Jason Idnani-Powdrill’s vocals shudder with an eerie theatrical tremble. It’s cinematic and dramatic as scurrying guitars build tension while the lyrics deliver an ominous narration. The music paints a picture like your watching a pistols at dawn western between dark mysterious characters. The blood curdling suspense tells you this story won’t end well. It’s a chilling goosebump inducing rush of adrenaline. Smothered in delectably enticing drama and a thrilling apprehension of this harrowing dooms day, it’s a captivating tale depicting the breathtaking cusp of demise. These guys contain an intense surge of anxiety and urgency in this four minute track relentlessly bombarding you with a slick swaggered rush of panic and terror. It’s well crafted, dark yet seductive and blood thirsty but sounds like it was made for a Tarantino movie. A riveting listen.

The band will soon be heading back to the studio in November to record songs for their debut album and judging from this track it’s going to be heart stopping and amazing.

Stream ‘Wolves’ below


Alt Rock, Indie, indie rock, New Music

Swine Tax ‘Feels Like’

Newcastle upon Tyne based noisy, artsy indie-rock trio Swine Tax have released their fourth single ‘Feels Like’. Taking influence from Pavement, the National and Parquet Courts, Swine Tax continually strive to create music prolifically and unerringly explore new sonic and emotional territory – an ethos which is underpinned by their commitment to writing, recording and mixing every song independently. The track was largely written and recorded during the band’s intensive August residency at the iconic Sage Gateshead music venue, having been chosen from artists across the north-east of England to compose new material in their time there. Born out of these productive sessions, this latest single perhaps provides the most accurate representation of Swine Tax’s unpredictable, emotional and, at times, euphoric live performances.

‘Feels Like’ is a woozy spin of blusterous indie rock. Beginning disguised as a croony, hazy, dream pop tune with a smooth guitar jingle and soft beat doused in a sun kissed melody. The track builds becoming more intense and sharp. Crashing guitars shrill and smash against boisterous pounding drums and strident soundscapes add a piercing razors edge. With a playful vocal delivery and boppy bubbly exterior it’s instantly likeable. The splintery guitar solo radiates golden flashes of scintillation while still piercing with a shrilling sting. Upbeat and fizzy it has all the elements of a perfect indie rock track.

Stream ‘Feels Like’ below

https://soundcloud.com/swinetax/feels-like


Alt Rock, Hypnotic, Indie, Indie Psychedelic, indie rock, New Music, psychedelic, Rock, Synth Rock, Worth A Listen

Worth A Listen

Our Worth A Listen Track This Week Comes From Serene

Psychedelic Rock trio Serene have released a video for their new single ‘Havana’ which is the third single from their new album ‘The Lonely Road’. From the trippy flicker and stabbing acoustic intro this track sends shivers up your spine. It’s a throbbing gritty fuzzed wallop of the psychedelic rock this trio do so well. Blistering guitars fire through the track with red hot intensity. An infectious throbbing bassline grooves with a luring smoulder and punchy drums bruise deep while flashing wobbly synth soundscapes quiver and dazzle with bright kaleidoscopic scintillation. It’s an epileptic fit of psychedelic bliss. Raw edgy and razor sharp in all the right places Serene build the track slowly and meticulously right up to the dizzying hallucinogenic crescendo. Smooth swagger soaked vocals strut and prance around the beaming instrumentation with intensified emotion. Underneath all this acute fury there is a velvety smoothness and dreamy haze floating about. It’s tranquilizing and sweetly paralyzing to the harsh instrumental battering. It’s a mighty absolutely brilliant track from Serene. They are one of my favourite new bands at the moment and each track they release gets better and better. An exciting band to keep an eye out for. So good.

Watch the video for ‘Havana’ below


Indie, New Music, Singer/Songwriter, Theatrical

Nicola Hardman ‘Just Human’ and ‘Little Fish’

After the successful release of her debut album ‘Full Beans’ back in December 2015, alternative singer-songwriter Nicola Hardman has announced details of her latest double single release comprising of tracks ‘Just Human’ and ‘Little Fish’. Throughout 2016, Nicola Hardman performed across the UK, appearing on radio shows and achieving number 2 in the top 20 chart of Round Sound Radio for her single ‘Little Fish’. She then went on to appear on Made in Liverpool TV and perform at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall alongside the likes of Ian Prowse ,Tom Hingley (Inspiral Carpets) and John Bramwell (I Am Kloot). Later in 2017, Hardman  was noted for her “kooky avant-garde-ness … her assured voice recalling Regina Spektor or Amanda Palmer at time” by Get Into This for her performance in Liverpool’s Threshold Festival. Based in Liverpool, Hardman is notorious for her theatrical vocals and catchy piano hooks. Not only does the musical content of her material draw people in, but the lyrical content of each song is captivating – discussing both personal and political issues in a way that speaks to many.

‘Just Human’ flurries in with a rushing menacing defined piano feature. It’s an intense swirl of emotion, the instrumentation whirls around a strong chord progression while Hardman continues to fascinate with her enduring vocals that wrap the listener up in a velvet soothing blanket. At times her vocals become sharp and ominous lying in the background with an almost harrowing screaming growl. The music remains fairly light and floaty with dark churning undertones creating a wholly chilling experience.

‘Little Fish’ is a theatrical bouncy swirly eerie track. With animated keys playfully hopping with an elastic mischievous rebound. The track wriggles and hauntingly sways like a spirited ghostly waltz attended by wicked creatures on Halloween, yet it holds an air of solitary loneliness. Evoking images of grandeur and fine dresses swishing in time with the free slowing swing and strong spin of the chords on keys. Hardman’s vocals exude emotion and drama with operatic high-pitched ornamentation lifting each note at the end of certain lines adding a vibrant spring and boost to the track. It’s enticing and tempting with both a spine chilling and joyous vibe. It’s absolutely thrilling. Love it.

Drawing from an eclectic range of influences, including the likes of System Of A Down, Bjork and Incubus, Nicola Hardman presents tracks that are both distinctive and charming. The double header single is set to be released on all digital platforms on 14th October 2017 after her single launch gig held at Studio 2, Parr Street, Liverpool on 13th October. More information about Nicola and any of her upcoming live shows can be found on her social media channels here https://www.facebook.com/nicolahardmanmusic

You can catch Nicola Hardman live at:

Fri 13th Oct – Liverpool – Studio 2 Parr Street

Sat 21st Oct – Northwich – House of Quirk

Friday 1st December – Liverpool – The Epstein Theatre

Sat 2nd Dec – London – Maddens East Finchlay

Stream ‘Just Human’ and ‘Little Fish’ below


Live Music, Live Music Review, New Music

Oktoberfest In The Bowery With Meltybrains? /Circus VIII /Mik Pyro & The Shogunz Of Stank/ Accidents in the Workplace / EHCO and Free Sunshine Acid

The Bowery was hosting their Oktoberfest last week and we headed down last Friday to check it out. It was a night jam packed with bands, six in fact each as vibrant as the next. With nice picnic tables outside, flashy lighting on stage and tasty nibbles from Farmer Browns everything was on hand for an enjoyable night.

Free Sunshine Acid kick started the show. Their psychedelic rock swirling and entwining with blissful hypnotic delusion. The four-piece blasted out a set brimming with jams, it was organic raw and refined. They perform with such fluidity, they are a well-oiled machine each in synch with one another producing euphoric wobbly psychedelic rock. The guitars shrill with thrilling distortion while punchy drums keep a constant beat, giving something to hold onto so you don’t fully lose yourself in their mirage of liquid flexible melodies.  Their sound is 60’s psychedelic rock wavy, shimmy ready and utterly trippy. Their stance simple, they are jamming together and we are fortunate enough to watch. ‘Carbon’ ‘Rays of The Sun’ And ‘Night Of The Lizards’ erupt with narcotic fluctuant soundwaves twisting and weaving between mosh ready pounding drums. Their catchy melodies and croony vocals with lush harmonies add a dreamy haze and radiate a euphoric atmosphere through the venue. It’s well trippy.

 EHCO follow with the ominous dark eerie ‘FIA’. A thick sticky beat slaps against swirling chilling electronics. These guys build their tracks layer by layer right up until they become full-fledged dance almost disco anthems. The beats are chunky and infectious with two drummers belting them out it’s instantly body grooving. The crowd sway and bop to their contagious sound. Rich rhythms thump and pop while swirling danceable soundscapes wisp around, it’s quite entrancing. ‘Bodies’ introduces  Jessica Lord’s vocals. Her vocals are powerful and compelling as she stands waving her arms in a floaty motion adding to the aerial breezy vibe. The crowd dance and swoosh enraptured in the gluey beat and airy soundscapes while the purple lighting aptly adds a mystical bewitching atmosphere to their set. The crowd were engulfed in their set shouting “EHCO! EHCO!” before the track ‘Eiclipse’. They deliver a full rich set mesmerising and hypnotic as well as insanely dance dominated. It’s the kind of music you could dance until you drop to.

 Accidents in the Workplace begin their set as an audience member shouts “play Wonderwall” so they decide to introduce their first track as Wonderwall. With a triumphant brass section, keyboard, guitars and a violin it’s a packed stage. Vocalist Lauren Murphy stands in front, her red hair luminous in the lighting, she is a flamboyant front woman. Her powerful vocals knock you for six while the enthusiastic facial expressions and dazzling dance moves are captivating. She swishes, hops, jumps and does the body snake all while hitting some mighty notes. With witty jokes between songs they test the crowd for Germans “any Germans in the house say woohoo”. It’s a lively animated set with rich instrumentation and colourful vivid melodies creating a massive sound. ‘Late nights’ the anthemic full bodied track follows a brief bit of banter about the free pretzels available at the bar. With rich textures and warm brass injections between catchy melodies and electrifying soundscapes not to mention Murphy’s powerful vocals they packed a lot into their tireless dynamic set.

Mik Pyro & The Shogunz Of Stank cruise in with their funky flavoured bluesy rock. It’s all swagger driven cool grooves and shredding slick guitar lines. Sensual licks and steamy hip swaying tempos these guys have the crowd gyrating and going wild in no time. With a jazzy keyboard and an enthusiastic bassist, it’s a pretty slick sight. Naturally they build their sound becoming more ear blasting and frantic as their set progresses, getting the crowd riled up and frenzied. Their rendition of Funkadelic’s  ‘Get Off Your Ass and Jam’ brings us right down to funky town. That “Shit! Goddamn! Get off yo’ ass and jam!” lyric will now forever be in my head. The audience go nuts some on their knees doing air guitar to the shredding solo. A slicked back version of Sly & The Family Stone’s ‘Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) ’ oozes swagger and strut quality it’s fluid, vaporous and drenched in panache. It’s a swanky flaunting set exuding sensual tones and intricate instrumental flamboyance and sass. They had the crowd in the palm of their hands.

Meltybrains? follow next. Wow words can hardly describe their set, it’s not for the faint-hearted. The lights go down and the crowd pack to the front, creepy masks on their heads they await the entrance of the five piece. They appear on stage all in white with masks on their heads to massive cheers. Their set is intense and spine chilling Donnacha looks like an evil surgeon serious and sinister he taps the keys in an eerie theatrical manner, while Brian across from him appears to be having spasms. The blue lighting with dry ice blasts create a menacing smoky backdrop to what we are about to witness. The crowd begin to sway and bounce to their unique sound. There are a few at first in the crowd that seem shocked by the wailing and screeching obscure sound they hear but when I look at them later they are completely mesmerised, joining in with the mass adoration. The band throw out more masks for anyone without one and the crowd fight over them, its chaotic. These guys drive the crowd wild with their music, it seems to bring out an animalistic character in each of them as they itch for more. It’s a sight to see when nearly everyone is either wearing a mask on their face or the back of their head it’s like you are being watched everywhere you turn. The band enjoy themselves throwing everything they have into their performance. The crowd shout for the track ‘The Vine’ the band graciously grant their request. The room erupts singing along and dancing to its jungle like beat. Drummer Micheál begins to climb up to the ceiling before resting on the pillar above while the others dance about the stage. This sets the crowd alight. They cheer for him like he is a hero as he climbs back down to the stage. Brian swings from the sails and ropes above the stage, the band go all out monkey and so do the audience, its insane. There is a particular dance to this track and all the audience join in like their minds are in synch with the band, maybe they are through hypnotic waves or something, but it’s a mind boggling spectacle for sure. The band request the audience to all kneel on the floor and they obey in a flash just to spring up in a mad frenzy of jumping. The audience worship them and idolise their spontaneous madness. So much so they give them a hero’s cheer as they line up to leave the stage. It was crazy, a bit unorthodox and immensely energetic. The crowd appeared lost without them when they left. Meltybrains? set was a unique experience for sure.

Circus VIII take to the stage the final act of the night and they brought the after party with them. Their Dublin debut, and boy was it incredible. Kicking off with ‘All Of Jason’s Beans’ they grooved and funked their way in style. Chantal Brown’s vocals, outstanding and powerful and Charley Taverner full of passion and soul. It’s charismatic explosive and oh so funky. With vibrant saxophone played by Toby Stewart, Bryan Corbett on Trumpet and Edu Bisogno on Keys, they blew us away. David D’Andrade is one of the most striking guitarists I’ve seen, imagine Jack Black with a hint of Meat Loaf theatrics teamed with slick guitar poses and swagger soaked spirited solos. Their sound is so full and bursting with life and dynamism it’s a rush of tantalizing soundscapes. Dramatic stops and starts they bring a fresh new thirst quenching sound to the Bowery audience. The crowd yell “yeah!” as they dance uncontrollably to their infectious groove. Jason Tebble’s slick bass adds a funky sensual elastic buoyancy to the tracks while Jon Harris’ drumming keeps a punchy foundation for Tebble to rebound off. With more energy than a bolt of lightning these guys blaze through their tracks oozing swagger leaving nothing but burn marks behind. ‘Sunshine’ is an absolute gem each note radiated golden vibes. Their set is playful vibrant and fun. Their sound immensely rich it’s honey to the ears, so jam packed with luscious melodies and intricate compositions all weaving together to create a blissful experience. These guys exude so much energy it pounds through you and lifts your spirit, it’s hard not to dance. The crowd loved every minute of it, one guy went to the edge of the stage to bow down in worship of the band another shouted while they were deciding what song to play next “just play some bass”. In their live set these guys exude slick panache and style with a flamboyant disco vibe blended with their funky rock, they are just too cool. Though their set was cut short it was pretty extraordinary.

All round Friday Night in Oktoberfest was phenomenal each band brought their own unique twist to the night some more obscure than others but it made for an amazing night. Definitely make sure to check it out next year there is something for everyone. So all that’s left to say is … do the vine (Meltybrains? quote).

 

 

 


Live Music, Live Music Review, New Music

Sideline Fire ‘Outside’ Single Launch with Support From Chinese Newspaper in Whelan’s Dublin

We were invited to check out Sideline Fire’s single launch in Whelan’s last Thursday night with support from  Chinese Newspaper. Eager fans watched the soundcheck in anticipation for the show to come. It’s an audience of mostly youngsters keeping the live music scene alive.

Chinese Newspaper take to the stage, shoes are off and they are ready to go. Blasting straight into their indie flavoured garage rock. Their groovy attitude driven tracks are perfect for a shimmy and mosh all at once. They coax the crowd to dance and move “We are here for your enjoyment”. Showing off their moodier grungier side ‘It Follows’ gets the crowd moshing and going wild. The guys have a cool nonchalant stage presence as they pierce with shrilling distortion on guitar and throttling drums over agonising expressive vocals. “Scream if you love hash” guitarist and vocalist  Killian Barrett shouts at the crowd as they go nuts. The band sing happy birthday to a member of the crowd urging everyone to buy him a drink. A cover of Pixies  ‘Where Is My Mind‘ follows causing a manic mosh frenzy among the crowd, as the birthday boy crowd surfs victoriously. The band bellow out a pretty slick rendition of the track to yelps and whoops from the audience. From here on out it’s absolute anarchy there is no controlling the crowd as they become consumed with the blasting tracks. ‘If Not Now Then When?’ finishes off their set soaked in sunny golden guitar lines, thumping drums and swagger infused vocals. It’s a pretty smooth rough and tumble burst of indie rock. The verses glide and groove with effortless sun kissed slickness while the chorus explodes with forceful mighty garage rock. It’s a fiery blustery set from Chinese Newspaper, a band to definitely keep an eye out for.

Following a lengthy wait for drummer Eric Walsh’s diva entrance. Sideline Fire begin their set after mocking him a little. They are a playful cheeky bunch, their show is light, fun and carefree with humorous banter throughout. Sound wise it’s a tight slick display. They wear their influences on their sleeves. These guys are starting out so it’s a little rough around the edges at times but they show real promise. The crowd dance and sing along from the start to their catchy pop melodies smothered in punchy indie rock, it’s a crowd-pleasing combination. Their original songs are well layered and balanced – rich danceable rhythms teamed with tight crashing guitars, some pretty slick solos and catchy melodies. ‘I Don’t Wanna Go’ fleshes out their Catfish and The Bottlemen influence a little. Actually, we see a lot of Catfish and The Bottlemen covers (which the crowd went wild for) so that’s no surprise. The band waste no time in getting the crowd engaged, guitarist John Fitzgerald throws band stickers into the crowd after their rendition of Arctic Monkeys ‘Brianstorm’. This gets the audience rowdy and savage, the band know what their audience like and they deliver it. Each original track displays a subtle growth in the band’s sound ‘No Patience’ showcasing a darker croony side to their catchy bubbly indie rock. They take the opportunity to display their versatility as a band as well as entertain. A few your mother jokes and a lot of crowd surfing later and we come close to the track everyone is here for, but before that a feisty rendition of Royal Blood’s ‘Figure It Out’ which holds a lot of excitement both in mishaps and crowd interaction. Vocalist Andrew Berry’s guitar strap breaks during the song, fortunately bassist Evan Butler’s mother comes to his aid like a ninja and fixes it. The crowd hardly notice, they are busy moshing jumping and going uncontrollably wild. Launch track. ‘Outside’ is announced to a mass of cheers and whoops as they belt out the indie banger. The band close the show on an unplanned cover of Arctic Monkeys ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’. The crowd go crazy shouting back the lyrics, it’s savage anarchy, practically everyone has a go at crowd surfing and there was no stopping them. They yell for one more song and the band oblige with the perhaps obvious choice Catfish and The Bottlemens’ ‘Kathleen’. What can I say the room erupted, a pretty explosive end to their show. The crowd were manic and pumped and this track just set them all off.

Young fresh Irish talent was oozing from Whelan’s last Thursday night and both these bands display promise and slick showmanship. Sideline Fire know their audience and they give them exactly what they want, a skill which will make them very popular in the future. A youthful exuberant show which is pretty impressive from this newly formed band.


A Chat With, Interviews

A Chat With: Sun Mahshene

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We caught up with Nathan Henderson from Sun Mahshene  last month after their set in  Sin É Dublin, to get to know them a little better and try and decipher the inner workings of those blissful psychedelic tunes

Tell us a bit about yourselves?

N: My name is Nathan Henderson and I’m the chief songwriter, vocalist and guitarist in Sun Mahshene. Myself and the other core members of the group make up a 6 piece indie/psych rock n roll outfit from Dublin. The other members are Ian McGinn on guitar, Ryan Daffy on Guitar, Darren Hughes on bass, Dave Murray on drums and Ray Burke on percussion and backing vocals. We also have some other players who stand in if we’re short. They are Stephen Mooney on guitar, Graham Matthews on guitar, Martin Fagan on bass and Tom Moylan on drums.

How did ‘Sun Mahshene’ come about?

N: It originally started out as a bit of a “bedroom” project for me back in 2014. I was in between bands and putting down ideas in my home studio to keep myself entertained. But once I put some demos up online it soon grew legs. There was a good bit of positive feedback coming in so I decided to work on taking it to the next level. The early incarnation of the band consisted of friends who I had previously played in bands with, who agreed to helped me to get the ball rolling. Dave is the only one left in the current line up from those early rehearsal sessions. There’s been a bit of a revolving door of members but we’ve a settled core group of players now.

 Tell us about what it was like when you first started writing music and coming up with your sound?

N: Before Sun Mahshene I was involved in mainly indie rock bands with sounds along the lines of The La’s, Oasis, The Stone Roses, that sort of thing. So this time around I wanted to create something with a bigger, more raw and darker sound. It was when delving  into the Shoegaze, Neo-Psych and Garage rock genre’s the my vision became clearer of what I wanted to achieve sound wise. I did a lot of research on how my favourite bands from these genre’s achieved their sounds from what guitar pedals and amps they used right up to the type of guitar strings and different tuning scales. I’ve a box in my studio that’s absolutely full of guitar pedals. It’s been a fantastic voyage of discovery so far and a lot of fun. And long may it continue!

You released your fourth EP ‘Drones That Don’t Kill’ last year tell us a bit about the EP?

N: Yeah, the EP was released on New Years Eve. We recorded it at Darklands Audio in Dublin and was co produced with Daniel Doherty who’s the main man there. Working with Dan was great and a nice learning experience. He chipped in with some good advice and little ideas to help us fine tune things. It was our way of closing off  what was an eventful year for the band. 2016 was a year that we worked hard on establishing the line up and creating a cohesive live sound. So we wanted to put something out, for ourselves more so than anything else, so that we had something to show for our hard work. And we’re happy with the overall reception it has gotten since it was released.

Do you have a favourite track on the EP?

N: Mine has to be the lead track, ‘No Control’.It’s an absolute belter of a rock n roll tune and great to play live! It’s also Darren’s go too tune. Ryan and Dave are into ‘Shine Your Light’ and Ian is into ‘In The End’. Martin Fagan, who was our bass player at the time of recording the EP, loves the bonus track ‘I Love You’ which plays on the tail end of ‘You’.

The tracks are hazy and soaked in blissful twisted psychedelia with enough fuzz and heaviness to keep it punchy but it’s still ridiculously dizzying and delusional tell us how you achieve this sound and what drove you to create a mirage of darkly saturated tunes?

N: We wanted to do something which not many are doing here at the moment. Or certainly not in Dublin. There are some good indie bands doing the jangley thing but we’re more interested in playing tunes with a bit more bombast to them. So we’ve got 3 guitarists rather than the standard 1 or 2 you’d get in a lot of bands. It adds extra weight to our sound and an extra dimension to how we play.

 The track ‘In The End’ was co-written and features vocals from Lydia Des Dolles of Daag Hur, how did that collaboration come about?

N: I was part of an early lineup of  Daag Hur with Lydia and we had recorded a demo of In The End before I left the band. The song used to be called Before The Light Fades which had different lyrics and slightly different melody which I used to sing. We reworked the lyrics and vocal melody to suit her style of singing. After I left I thought it’d be a waste not to put the song out on something and so asked Lydia if she’d be cool with it being a Sun Mahshene release. She was happy to go with it and the result was great.

 There is a lot going on in your tracks with swirling soundscapes meandering through droning sometimes explosive percussion and sharp piercing guitar arrangements talk us through the writing and producing process for your songs?

N: I have a studio at home and write all of the parts for the songs and take them to the rest of the guys. It’s probably not the most democratic of bands but once an idea is brought to the everyone the feel changes somewhat as their different styles of playing add extra personality to things.

How do you find the recording process is there anything in particular you find difficult?

N: We love being in the studio and recording. It’s extrememly gratifying to hear something you’ve been working on in rehearsals come together. Sometimes you’re focused on your own parts of the song when rehearsing making sure you’re getting it right. So it can be easy to miss or not fully take in what everyone is doing. So once it’s put down in the studio you get to hear the consolidation of everyone’s input fully. I think the most difficult thing is the mixing process. We tend to layer up a lot of different sounds and guitar effects so the impact of certain songs can be lost when there’s too much going on. We really need to sit down and make some tough decisions on what parts need to be stripped out to ensure the song we happen to be working on can be as good  as can possibly be. Drones That Don’t Kill was co produced with Daniel Doherty. So he helped push the song in the right direction and offered great advice.

 Tell us about the concept for the cover art for the EP?

N: The cover art was a summary of what a crazy year 2016 was politically. Both on a national level and internationally. We had the Irish Water debacle happening, Brexit in the UK and then the Trump farce in the US. So we wanted to captured that somehow. It goes back to what Nina Simone once said, an artist’s duty is to reflect the times.

 What is a live show with you guys like?

N: Loud, sweaty and full of melody. We’re probably not the most animated bunch on stage. But we hope the music does the speaking for us. Although, Darren on bass does enjoy a bop.

 How do you get a crowd warmed up and ready to engage and rock out with you guys?

N: Our set is full on from start to finish so our ethos at the moment is to kick the door down and ask questions later in that respect. There’s no better way to catch someones attention by blowing their heads off. As an unsigned band you have to do something which will capture people’s attentions right from the start. But we’re constantly working on new ideas on how to change things up a bit so I’m sure how we deliver our shows will evolve into something else as time goes on.

 Have you had any bizarre things happen while you were on stage?

N: At one show we played, a guy in the audience loved our stuff so much he started throwing beer mats at Ian. He was punching the air and giving rock signs with his hands. I don’t think Ian even realised what was happening. He’s a typical shoegazer, once the song starts his head drops down when he’s playing. So it was funny to have beer mats flying past our heads like frisbies. We got off lightly though because the guy threw a bar stool at the headline act because he was so into their stuff. Luckily it didn’t make it on to the stage. I guess people can have a funny way of showing their appreciation. Either way we’re glad he liked it!

 What is your favourite venue to perform in so far and why?

N: Out of the venues we’ve played so far it’s probably The Workmans Club in Dublin. They have great sound engineers there and the venue is a nice size. As an added bonus, we all manage to fit on the stage which can be a struggle for us in other venues.

 What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?

N: The biggest challenge is when one of the core members can’t do one of our shows. It can be at short notice, so getting one of our stand ins up to speed with new songs can be tricky. But everyone that comes in to play for us are great musicians so they generally pick up on things fairly quickly. We haven’t had to cancel a show yet and long may it continue.

 What advice do you have for people who want to form their own band?

N: Forget about trying to be the next big thing or trying to sound like what the flavour of the month is on the radio or whatever platform you listen to music on. Do what ever feels right and inspires you. And ultimately enjoy yourself. The hardwork will pay off in the end.

 What’s next for ‘Sun Mahshene’?

N: We’ve a couple of shows coming up, one in Stage 19 on Francis Street, Dublin on the 14th of October. We’ll have great support on the night from Segrasso and Free Sunshine Acid. Then we’re in with the good folks at Gigonometry on the 20th of November in The Workmans Club, Dublin. We’re also demoing our debut album which we aim to begin recording early next year.

Stream ‘Drones That Dont Kill’ below